This week, the issue went before the House Committee on Veterans
Affairs in Washington, where an official with the
Military
Officers Association of America
said a decade of war in Iraq
and Afghanistan has placed unprecedented demands on troops and
their families.

"The statistics are disturbing and point to an even greater need
to wage an all-out battle to end suicide," said Rene Campos, the
association's director of government relations. "What is required
is a sustained national commitment at all levels of government to
help veterans cope with the psychological and traumatic conditions
that threaten their well-being and that of their families."

The Washington-based association wants the Pentagon to establish
a single strategy and suicide prevention office, rather than each
branch of service having its own. The group also is calling for
expanded mental health services and enhanced efforts to reach
at-risk troops and veterans.

Eleven Marines who have taken their own lives this year were
stationed at Camp Pendleton or assigned to a unit headquartered at
the base, an official with the suicide prevention program said last
month.

Mental health specialists attribute the rise in military
suicides and attempted suicides to the exposure to violence, the
stress of long and frequent deployments, and family and
relationship issues.

Substance abuse also is seen as a major contributor, because
many troops "self-medicate" to help cope with the stresses from
their combat experience.

A telephone help line activated last year for Marines and their
family members in the Western region of the U.S. is averaging 800
calls per month, officials have said.

The
"DSTRESS"
hotline (877-476-7734) is staffed by
Marines, and its success has prompted the service to expand its
access worldwide.

The Marine Corps also is launching a "psychological autopsy"
early next year that will examine every self-inflicted death
recorded in 2011.

All of the Marines who've killed themselves this year were male,
according to the latest report.

Most were white and between the ages of 17 and 25. Fourteen were
married.

The vast majority, 18, used a gun to take their lives. Six
others hanged themselves, according to the report.